On Thursday 5 th February 1970, Pink Floyd played a concert in Cardiff as a fundraiser for the Arts Centre Project; and in 1971, Chapter, a unique meeting place for people and ideas opened in Canton. More than 36 years later, Chapter – one of the most successful multi-disciplinary arts organisations in the UK – is undergoing an ambitious £3.8 million redevelopment project to bring its facilities into the 21 st century.

Every year Chapter…. presents over 2,000 events, screenings, exhibitions and performances welcomes over 500,000 visitors programmes over 3,000 education and outreach workshops supports over 150 voluntary organisations

Chapter changes people’s lives…. by supporting creative organisations and artists providing a home for many of Wales’ best-known and award winning names in theatre, dance, music, art and animation including Earthfall Dance, artist Pete Fowler, film director Ken Russell and actor Rhys Ifans. by working with educational and community groups to engage disadvantaged individuals fully in the arts. Groups include NABTA Sudanese dance and music group; Rainbow Project South Wales; Wales Council for the Blind; South Wales Intercultural Community Arts; Patua Dance; and Monkey Music mother and baby music group. by promoting a long list of practitioners from film directors Justin Kerrigan and Chris Monger; to Turner Prize-nominated artists Mona Hartoum and Cornelia Parker; to Oscar-nominated animators such as Joanna Quinn and Nick Park and actors such as Willem Dafoe and former Monty Python Terry Jones. by meeting the needs of the community in which it sits. We offer pioneering accessible cinema, special screenings for isolated groups, innovative workshops for visiting schoolchildren, send workshop leaders across south and west Wales and offer open space for our many and diverse users

‘With this diverse range of users, [Chapter] are able to generate a corresponding wide range of public experiences including belonging, self development and performance’ People Make Places: Growing the public life of cities, Demos supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2005

The need for change…. Capacity – over the last five years we have seen constant growth across all sectors of the organisation. This has put pressure on our cinema and theatre auditoria and on our gallery and the public spaces serving them. Consultation has indicated that there is a great demand for a further ground floor well-lit space for workshops and events. Access – all entrances need to be made more accessible and visible. Heavy doors currently make access difficulty for users with mobility issues and Cinema Two is currently only accessible for wheelchair users through a separate entrance. Sustainability – after 36 years of constant use many parts of the building are now in a poor state of repair and the spaces have outgrown visitor and artists’ expectations and demand. The redevelopment will enable Chapter to remain at the forefront of culture in Wales.

Keeping up with the pace of change….

Chapter’s redevelopment project will: dramatically improve the visitor experience through an ambitious redevelopment of the concourse, café bar area, shop and box office. Public space will increase by 40% and the new, longer servery will ensure that people are served quickly and have a good visitor experience. provide better facilities to meet the needs of local, national and international artists, performers and filmmakers; offer a better cinema and theatre experience for the people of Cardiff. The scheme will create a new foyer and new seating for the theatre and refurbish both cinemas, allowing audiences to enjoy the best world and independent film in comfort, in a vibrant environment and with the latest technology.

 provide full disabled access. The scheme, which improves the main entrances and the entrances to the Cinema 2 and theatre will make all areas of the building completely accessible;  better and more accessible facilities will be offered to Cardiff and South Wales’s community and voluntary organisations better. The project will refurbish existing spaces and introduce a new, fully-accessible space for workshops, events and the presentation of performances.  make Chapter more visible through the addition of more inviting and fully-accessible entrances to both the front and rear of the building. A new large signage lightbox will be installed at the front of the building and a highly visible and fully accessible box office will be built.

 improve Gallery and gallery shop moving the entrance to achieve higher visibility within the building. The gallery shop will be re-housed and relocated to a more commercially viable location.  increase visitor figures by an estimated 20% from 500,000 to 600,000 visitors annually;  increase trading income, ensuring Chapter’s sustainability and enabling them to subsidise its artistic programme;  improve the building stock and landscape of the locale and make an enhanced contribution to a culturally-led regeneration of one of the UK’s capital cities.

Redevelopment cost - £3.8 million Already raised: Arts Council of Wales£ 1,750,000 (Capital Lottery) Welsh Assembly Government£ 200,000 (Community Facilities Programme) Arts Council of Wales£ 136,000 (Fees) Europe (ERDF)£ 172,400 (Feasibility) Trusts & Individual donations £ 25,000 Chapter own funds£ 77,000 Funding Gap as at 11/2007 £ 1,439,600

"Chapter is one of Europe's leading arts centres, and offers a diverse mixture of performance, visual arts, cinema and participation. It's also the home for many artists and arts organisations. These imaginative plans will improve the experience of Chapter for all of its many users, and the Arts Council of Wales is delighted to have been able to support them with a Lottery capital grant. We are really looking forward to seeing the work completed and with greater access to the same rich mix of activity in greatly enhanced surroundings." Peter Tyndall, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Wales

Thank you….. To all those who have given their support so far: